By Your Side
by Assemble-the-Avengers
Summary: Ben's torso was almost severed in half, proving he was long gone. Gretel shook, covering her mouth with her blood painted hands. Hansel wound one arm around her shoulder and the other around her waist, pulling her against his chest. Gretel clutched her brother's jacket, letting herself show weakness, even if it was only to him.
1. Chapter 1

**FIRST HANSEL AND GRETEL FIC. **

Hansel flipped off his feet, whirling around to face the witch that had knocked him down in the first place. He was _tired_. He didn't want to banter, or threaten like he usually would. Gretel was down, protected somewhere in a corner. Or so he hoped. He turned in circles, calmly looking for the witch whose type he hadn't bothered to note. This was the fourth witch of the day and he couldn't have cared less.

"Can we get on with this, I have somewhere I need to be." He called wearily into the darkness. A hiss sounded from behind him and he spun on the heel of his combat boots, whipping his fist into her cheekbone, doubling her over with a punch to her gut. Movement out of the corner of his eye automatically drew his attention and he instinctively turned his back on the witch. "Ben?" he shouted angrily. "I told you to stay with the cart!" he yelled furiously, only getting a second of reprieve to watch the younger boy crouch down beside Gretel before he got the butt of an axe to the back, sending him stumbling forward. He recovered, regaining his balance, only to find that the witch had once again disappeared.

"Hansel." A choked voice called. Gretel sat up in the corner, conscious but still groggy by the looks of it. But she wasn't the one who had called for him. The witch stood in front of his sister, Ben suspended by her fingers in the air. Hansel glanced discreetly at Gretel, nodding minutely. She tilted her head in understanding, reaching inside her skin tight leather coat.

"Ben, watch me, got it?" Hansel growled lowly.

"Yeah." Ben's chin quivered slightly in fear he didn't want to show. He wanted to be brave like Hansel, like Gretel even. Still, he was young, inexperienced and worked with witch murderers for a living. He was entitled to a breakdown. Just not at this moment.

"Now, Gretel!" he shouted, diving forward while Gretel rose up on her knees and plunged her dagger into the witch's back. The witch howled, turning on Gretel and letting Ben fall to the dusty hardwood floor. Gretel cringed away from the witch; something she would usually be ashamed of if she weren't injured, exhausted, bordering blacking out, and trapped in a corner. As the witch raised her arm above her head, preparing to bring her axe down on the witch hunter, she was knocked to the side by a heavy body barreling into her. Hansel glared down at her with the angriest expression Ben had seen on his idol's face yet. "Don't go _near _my sister." He growled, repeatedly slamming his fist into the witch's face. She writhed underneath him, wriggling her hand in the little space there was between the man's body weight and the floor to reach her wand. Hansel watched as an evil smile spread across the witch's face, letting the hunter know she'd reached her wand. As Hansel was thinking of a way to get away from her quick enough, Ben hurled himself between them so that he was awkwardly splayed out over the witch's chest.

But whatever he had meant to do, had worked. At least in the teenager's mind. He cried out as his body intercepted the spell, suspending him in the air for the second time that day. The witch pushed Hansel off of her, using his momentary preoccupation to her advantage and swinging the axe into Ben's torso without hesitation or regret. Ben fell to the ground one again, and Gretel crawled towards him. Hansel took a deep breath.

"You mess with my sister, and the kid?" he growled dangerously. "Big mistake." He concluded, whipping another weapon out of the pack on his back. "Gretel!" he warned.

"On it!" she shouted back, bending over Ben covering her head in preparation. She didn't watch the witch explode, or look at the burning pieces of her body raining down around them as Hansel fired one of the more dangerous weapons they possessed.

"She's…" Hansel started, propping the weapon up against his shoulder. "Gretel?" he asked. "Ben." He remembered, jogging towards his sister and her friend. "Is he?" he asked quietly, laying a hand on his sister's back. Ben's torso was almost severed in half, proving he was long gone. She nodded, covering her mouth with her blood painted hands. Hansel wound one arm around her shoulder and the other around her waist, pulling her against his chest. Gretel clutched her brother's jacket, letting herself show weakness, even if it was only to him. He tracked his fingers through her undone braid, hushing her and holding her as tight as his injuries would allow.

"He shouldn't have…We told him to stay…I shouldn't have let him…Hansel, its my fault." She cried. He rested his cheek on the top of her head.

"Gretel, no. It's not your fault." He assured her. He was never any good to her when she cried. Hansel had never been able to figure out what to say when she was upset. He'd soon learned that her breakdowns were worse when she was alone, so he held her and did his best to calm her down. The familiar beeping emitted from his watch and Hansel immediately started to feel dizzy. Gretel flipped out of his arms and pushed him back to lean against the wall while she sifted through the leather pouch for the syringe. Her fingers quickly brushed against it, and she wasted no time plunging it into his thigh and emptying its contents into his blood stream. He leant forward and clutched his head. Gretel stood in front of him, tears still streaming down her face as she twisted her fingers into his short brunette hair, pulling his head against her stomach.

"We should go." She whispered. "Before Edward decides to come in and save us." She muttered, voice breaking. He nodded but didn't move. Gretel sighed, realizing in that second just how beat up he was. She grabbed his hand in hers, pulling him forward and off his feet. Pausing, she dropped down on one knee, pressing a kiss to Ben's forehead. Hansel squeezed her hand as more tears leaked out of her brown eyes.

"Come on, sis." He whispered. She didn't need to be here when the bugs came. She dragged the back of her hand over her eyes, before standing under her brother's arm and supporting his weight as they left the witch's cottage. And Ben.

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	2. Chapter 2

Hansel glanced at his sister out of the corner of his eye as they walked beside Edward. He'd done a mental inventory of his injuries when he'd tried to take some of his weight off of Gretel's shoulders and had almost collapsed to the dusty ground with a glare from his sister. His ankle was sprained, if not fractured. His head was pounding but not quite bad enough for the witch hunter to think he had a concussion. Aside from that he was left with a couple of nasty bruises.

Gretel hadn't said a word since they'd emerged from the cabin, except to greet Edward, and had barely looked at her brother except to glare at him when he tried to be chivalrous. Gretel had shouldered the weapons bag, leaving the lighter of the two bags for Hansel. He had spent the first five minutes of their walk back to the town arguing with her before giving up with an icy glare from Gretel, daring him to argue with her further. They approached the small shack the people used as the mayor's office, and Gretel pushed open the wooden door, adjusting Hansel's weight so that she could help him over the lip of the threshold. The mayor saw the brother and sister, and immediately scrambled out of his own chair, making a move to drag it towards the limping man.

"I'm alright, sir. Thank you though." Hansel waved him off. The mayor eyed him skeptically over the edge of his glasses, pushing his grey hair back and sighing wearily.

"It did not go as planned, I assume?" he sighed.

"With all due respect, Mr. Mayor, we take offense to your little faith." Hansel grunted and the older man's head shot up.

"I just assumed…" he sputtered.

"The witch is taken care of; there were no kids in the prisons. Your city is safe." Gretel interjected lifelessly.

"I cannot express my thanks enough." He sighed in relief. "Where's the other boy that was with you? I'd like to express my gratitude to all on your team." He asked as he counted out their money. Gretel stiffened and Hansel's arm around her waist tightened protectively. "Oh. Oh my, I'm so sorry." The old man stuttered. "Is there anything else I can offer you?" he wisely changed the subject.

"My sister and I could use a place to spend the night if you have any availability." Hansel answered while Gretel worked to regain her composure.

"Of course. There's a vacant cottage on the edge of town. Straight down the road, about a mile, there's a dirt road on the right, follow that and it should lead you right to the house." The mayor directed, gesturing uselessly with one hand, handing the satchel of gold coins to Gretel who nodded in thanks. "Would you like a ride? I can lend you my son's horse." He offered, more than likely trying to make up for his earlier question.

"That'd be wonderful. Thank you." Gretel replied tightly before Hansel could deny. The man smiled and nodded, hurrying out the door behind his desk, calling over his shoulder that he'd meet them in front of the small building. The brother and sister leant against the wall as they waited for the kind hearted mayor.

He appeared not five minutes after he'd left them, leading a skinny chestnut colored horse towards them.

"He's old, but hasn't let us down yet. Just bring him back on your way out." He requested, handing the reins over to the younger sibling.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor." Gretel forced a smile.

"Thank _you." _He countered sincerely, before disappearing inside his run down office once again. Gretel braced her hands against her brother's back as he swung his injured leg over the horse, blowing out a forced breath in response to the pain before holding a hand out to his dejected looking sister. She let him pull her up behind him and wound her arms around his waist, resting her chin on his shoulder. Hansel clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, snapping the reigns to get the horse moving with Edward following close behind with the cart.

Hansel briefly shut his eyes as he worried for his little sister. She had been robbed of everything since they were eight. It didn't make sense to him why she had to lose Ben on top of everything else. He squeezed her leg just above her knee when they rode up to what he assumed was the house they were directed towards.

He slipped off, landing on his good foot and holding his arms out to his sister. She stared down, and slid off into his waiting arms. She tucked her head into his chest and Hansel smiled softly, swinging her up in his arms. Edward grunted behind him and Hansel glanced over his shoulder.

"I've got her, big guy." Hansel assured the troll before limping the few steps to the house while Edward curled up on the ground outside the cottage. Gretel yawned as her brother set her down on the mattress, rolling over on her side and hugging the dingy pillow. She shivered in the damp cold of the impending night and her big brother immediately shrugged out of his jacket, draping it over her upper body before dropping onto the floor beside her bed and leaving his ankle to be dealt with later.

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